This invention relates to remote ordering systems in general.
The drive-through lanes in many restaurants have added a very beneficial feature for both the consumer and the proprietor. The drive-through allows the proprietor to remain open longer, while the restaurant is being cleaned for the next day. The drive-through also allows more efficient handling of customers with a reduction in staff count.
The customer gets the benefit of staying in his or her vehicle while being serviced. That is especially important to young families and to those with mobility problems, such as the aged or infirm.
Drive-through lanes have been around for quite some time. However, in the typical drive-through lane, a customer places an order by speaking into a microphone to an attendant. The quality of these microphones is generally poor, resulting in miscommunication and errors in the order. By the time the customer finds out about the error, he has already waited in line several minutes and must then wait several more minutes for a correct order to be filled. This results in the loss of customer goodwill.
A problem with previous drive-through ordering systems that do not use a microphone is that they require the customer to lean out of the vehicle to press a button on a menu or use a touch screen. This is awkward if not impossible for some people, such as very obese people. Also, this exposes the customer to rain, snow, etc., while the order is being placed. Generally speaking, there is no feedback as to the type, quantity, or total price of items ordered, and no capability to back up to correct an incorrectly entered item.
There is a need for a remote ordering system for a drive-through lane that addresses the above problems. Additionally, the system should provide a completely transportable, hand-held remote device that can be assigned to customers who order frequently from the restaurant. Optimally, the device will have a customer identification, which is transmitted with each order so that the restaurant can perform statistical analysis.
This application also relates to the use of a remote ordering device by wait staff within a restaurant, to place orders, determine the status of orders, and allow the customer to pay the bill either by cash, credit card or by a check or electronic version hereof through automated clearing house rules.
There is a need for a hand held remote device on which a server in a restaurant enters each customer's food and beverage order and then electronically sends the information directly to the kitchen without the server having to personally take the order to the kitchen. Each server can then handle additional tables more efficiently, increasing their income, and saving the restaurant some portion of the staff salaries. The device can also have a credit card reader and signature “box” for the customer to complete the transaction at the table without having to wait in line at the cash register, or for the waitress to return with a credit slip to sign. The device may also have a scanner for imaging checks for electronically paying by check through an automated clearing house.
There is also a need for a generalized remote ordering device for customer use inside or outside a facility such as a restaurant, auto repair facility, retail store, grocery store, airport or other service facility. The remote ordering device is a handheld device that allows the customer to order and pay for products or services and access information.
The generalized remote ordering system may also have two-way communications for seeing what is for sale and ordering on the two-way communications device such as a computer, cell phone or a personal data assistant (PDA) either by a direct dial or over the internet, or by a wide fidelity (Wi-Fi) or other local communication connection such as infrared. With a two-way communications system a display may be used to point and click selections or make selections by a touch screen system or by entering data on a keyboard for selections seen on the display. The communications device can communicate with a computer at a store or restaurant or a service facility or with vending machines, automated teller machines (ATMs), kiosks or vehicles. The device can be used for taxi services to order a taxi to come to your location, particularly when combined with a global positioning system (GPS). The device can also be used to select items and pay for them from vending machines, gasoline pumps at gas stations, to buy airline tickets, insurance, rent cars, contact house appliances or open doors in homes, hotels or other buildings.
The two-way communication feature allows for advertising or other information such as directions or product information to be displayed. Data entry to the communications device can be made by scanning information in, manually entering data, selecting items on a screen by a point and click system or a touch screen system, or by other means such as a radio frequency identification chip (RFIC) reading device.
The user of the communications device can be identified by biometric features of the user, such as fingerprints, voice recognition, retina identification, or by pin numbers or chips such as RFIC in the user's possession implanted in the user.